


Who Holds His Heart

by Ilvermere



Series: Tails of the Fae [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: But some angst too, Disney, Fluff and Angst, Hope you ladies and gents like Disney, It won't all be magic and mice, M/M, Mates, Moana (2016) - Freeform, Mostly Fluff, So don't be surprised if you see Disney stuff here, because i love it, but don't worry, dragonslayers, movies - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 13:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9821618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilvermere/pseuds/Ilvermere
Summary: After an emotional and particularly difficult mission, Team Natsu decides to relax and soothe their minds with a Group Movie Night.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Everybody! I have finally stopped being a chicken-wuss and posted stuff. This series will mostly consist of one-shots that I may or may not continue into longer fics. This first work is not going to be anything but a one-shot. I may or may not write something similar, but this particular work is remaining a one-shot. I don't have a beta, so all mistakes are mine.
> 
> I do not own Fairy Tail or Disney's Moana

The huge doors of the guildhall were heaved open, slamming into the walls with a mighty _crash_. A pink haired man strode in with a boisterous laugh whilst he ignored the seething rage stemming from the fearsome redhead behind him.

“Man that was fun! We should really do that again sometime!” A toothy grin split his face.

“Um, Natsu, maybe we shouldn’t do what we did again...” the soft words of the youngest team member fell upon deaf ears as the pink haired man rejoiced in blissful memories of countless property destruction. The white cat hovering next to her huffed in annoyance at the sheer absurdity of their latest mission.

“Are you kidding me?” The blonde next to the redhead complained as the pair walked in after the man. “We destroyed the entire coastline! Do you even realize how much damage fees we had to pay? We’re lucky we still have enough for my rent or else I would have beaten you senseless!” She glared crossly at the pink haired man, fingers idly tracing the curl of her whip.

“Honestly, Lucy,” a smooth voice interjected from the back, “you’ve been here for years. You should be used to the damn lizard’s stupid antics by now.” Immediately, the pink haired mage whipped around and aimed a full force glare at the pale skinned man smirking at him.

“What was that you dumbass snowman?!” he growled, flames engulfing his fists as he stalked up to the other male.

“You heard me,” said male grinned at the furious expression lighting up his rival’s face. Before either male could act, however, the redhead loomed up in front of them. 

“Natsu. Gray. You two weren’t about to fight just now, were you?” Both boys would swear to the heavens that the redhead had flames coming out of her eyes at this very moment. 

“N-no, never, Erza!” Gray looped his arm around his rival’s shoulders while Natsu stood frozen, petrified. As if the magic words were spoken, the flames and miasma vanished from Erza’s countenance.

“Good,” she nodded proudly, “you two have been getting on so well recently. I would hate for that to change.”

Gray chuckled nervously. “I’m sure there’s a...reason...for that...” 

“A-aye!” Natsu squeaked, making Lucy roll her eyes while Happy, perched on her shoulder, snickered.

“We need to inform Master Makarov what happened.” Erza spoke over her shoulder as she strode towards the stairs leading up to the Master’s office. “Let’s go.” Her voice brokered no disagreement and the rest of her team followed with varying degrees of reluctance. 

Natsu plodded slowly at the back of the group, his earlier joy of returning home fading. How could he tell the Master what had happened? He, himself, didn’t remember most of it; but, unfortunately, he remembered enough of it. What remained with him was just everything he wanted to forget. He had almost hurt Happy and Lucy! And Erza and Wendy and Carla all tried to stop him and he had almost hurt them, too! And Gray! God, _Gray._ First he thought he was _dead_. Then  _Natsu himself_  almost killed—he almost killed his— 

“Natsu.” The mage in question looked up to see the man he was thinking about staring at him intently. Natsu quickly searched the dark eyes and felt a tiny curl of relief when he saw no hatred or fear. “Come on, Flame Head,” Gray continued quietly enough so only the Dragonslayer would hear, “the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can move past this.”

“Yeah,” Natsu grunted and followed his friend up the stairs, ignoring the curious looks of his guildmates. The door to the Master’s office loomed at the end of the corridor and the rest of his team were waiting beside it. Each wore a look of concern, but had relaxed slightly when Natsu appeared alongside Gray. The fire and ice mages stopped next to the girls and felines.

“Shall we?” Gray glanced at Natsu from the corner of his eye. Nodding, Natsu took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

 

* * *

 

“Welcome back, you guys!” A cheerful call sounded from the bar as the team returned down the stairs, receiving various ‘welcomes’ and ‘hellos’ from their guildmates.

“Hi, Mira,” Lucy greeted with a smile. She plopped herself onto a bar stool with a thankful sigh. Happy settled onto the bar next to the white exceed, Carla, who in turn was sitting daintily near Wendy.

Mirajane smiled back at the celestial mage as she fixed drinks and food. “On the house,” she remarked sweetly. Lucy practically inhaled her chocolate milkshake, groaning in bliss as she tasted the delicious flavor. Erza ate her strawberry cake with meticulous movements, savoring each and every bite of the heavenly treat. Gray and Wendy were both ignoring their drinks in favor of watching Natsu chug his flaming shake with gusto.

“How was the mission? You were nearly two weeks late; we were really very worried.” Mira inquired as she cleaned a glass.

Lucy grimaced and deliberately did not look at the fire mage. “Yeah we were late—not surprising, actually. There were major mishaps, but we managed to work through them. I’m just glad the coastline was the only thing that got destroyed,” she added as an afterthought, “the way everything went down, the destruction could have been much worse.” She trailed off and returned he focus back to her milkshake. 

Mirajane noticed that none of the team elaborated on what exactly happened. She studied them surreptitiously. On the outside, they seemed normal; happy and joking, even. But as she looked closer she observed that something was off: Erza’s movements—always so precise—had a faint tremor; Lucy focused on her milkshake with an alarming intensity, her eyes occasionally blinking rapidly as if attempting to stave off tears; Wendy was quieter than normal and rarely acknowledged when spoken to; Happy and Carla kept sneaking glances at their humans, tails twitching every so often.

But it was with Gray and Natsu that Mira obtained her biggest clue that something had gone horribly wrong. Gray’s cool façade was still in place, but the cracks were noticeable when one knew what to look for. His eyes tried to hide, but Mira caught the bleakness and the fear. The fact that they kept flickering back to Natsu was telling enough. Natsu himself never strayed far from his team, especially remaining near to Gray. And Natsu, although tactile by nature, was being unusually so; he would nonchalantly reach out just enough to brush against Gray, like he was reassuring himself that the ice mage was still there.

Blue eyes narrowed minutely. _Something_ had happened. Something bad enough to have shaken the whole team, Natsu and Gray in particular. Before she could begin her questioning, Natsu stood up and turned to his team.

“Movie night at Gray’s place!” He declared with a grin—one that Mira noticed didn’t reach his eyes.

“Aye!” Happy agreed excitedly. “I’ll bring lots of fish!” Carla smacked him on the back of the head.

“What?” Gray glowered at the fire mage. “What the hell, stupid Flame Brain? You can’t just invite yourself over to my house!”

Erza, however, was nodding. “It _has_ been a while since we last spent time together while not on a mission. I agree with Natsu.” She smiled at the fire mage, who was grinning smugly at the seething ice mage. Lucy and Wendy exchanged looks and sighed.

“Alright, let’s go get ready. Meet you at Gray’s!” The two girls stood and headed to the doors.

“Wait! You all may have agreed to this, but I sure as hell didn’t! And it’s my house!” Gray spoke up in exasperation.

But the ice mage was ultimately ignored. Erza had already stood up and was following Wendy and Lucy. “We shall be at your place in half and hour, Gray.” To which Gray just sighed in resignation. Once Erza’s mind was made up, there was absolutely no changing it. Natsu cheered and he and Happy raced out of the guildhall, leaving the ice mage to bang his head against the bar counter. Mira giggled and patted Gray on the head in consolation.

“Oh come on, Gray! Don’t be so grumpy! Maybe this will be exactly what you all need to cheer yourselves up!” Mira smiled knowingly as the ice mage’s head shot up to blink at her. After a moment, he chuckled ruefully. 

“Maybe,” he agreed as he stood and left, waving over his shoulder in farewell to the barmaid. Hands in his pockets, he strolled down the emptying streets towards home. Although he had put up a token protest—and truthfully was a bit irritated that this was randomly sprung on him (And whom was he kidding? He should be used to these kind of things, dating that firecracker and all)—he really didn’t mind hosting his friends for the evening. Perhaps Mira was right: this little get together to just relax and enjoy each other’s company could be good for them. It would certainly get their minds off of that rather disastrous mission at least for a little while.

Gray freed himself from his thoughts when he reached his house. Summoning his magic, he created a key and unlocked his door and stepped inside. With a sigh, he walked over to the laundry room and set his travel bag down before heading to the main living room. He pulled his two couches around the lacrima television. He dutifully ignored his urge to straighten them out when faced with the haphazard display (Natsu would just make it a mess anyway if he did, the bastard) and wandered to the kitchen. He thanked every deity he knew when he found that he still had a supply of good junk food. While his friends would bring food as thanks (as he, with the most spacious house, usually hosted these get-togethers), he was relieved that he would have back up in case they didn’t.

His door opened as someone let themselves in. Gray didn’t even bother with yelling at the person—who could at least _knock_ first, thank you—as they would just do this again with or without his permission. 

“Hey, Ice Princess,” Gray scowled but stayed silent, resigned to the stupid nicknames. Warm arms wrapped around him and a nose buried itself into his neck, inhaling deeply. 

“You know, most people knock first.” The ice mage informed his guest. The chuckle in his skin made him grin despite himself.

“I’m not most people, Snowflake.” The fire mage kissed the pale neck then raised his head up to kiss the ice mage’s cheek. Gray snorted and gently freed himself. “That you are not, Cinder Breath.”

The ice mage vacated the kitchen and settled down on the loveseat with a book, stretching his legs across the whole couch. Natsu puttered around in the kitchen, making a general mess because a) it annoyed Gray, b) he could, and c) it annoyed Gray. As he was disorganizing his ice mage’s house, a knock rapped on the front door. Natsu hurried to open it and let the girls and exceeds inside.

“Hey, Natsu,” Lucy greeted, “you’re early.” The fire mage shrugged, closing and locking the door, and led the way into the living room where Gray was reading. The ice mage tore his concentration away from his book and greeted his guests with a smile. The guests in question placed bowls of popcorn and other junk food (and strawberry cake) down on the coffee table.

“What are we going to watch?” Wendy asked as she took a seat on the largest couch. Erza and Lucy settled down on either side of her while Carla and Happy perched on the armrests. Natsu handed the girls one of Gray’s blankets and threw the other in Gray’s face, grinning broadly at the ice mage’s irritated grumbles. Said mage’s eyes widened and he jerked his legs up just as Natsu flung himself down on the loveseat. 

“Really, Flame Brain?” Gray glared at the fire mage to which Natsu only laughed. In revenge, Gray plopped his legs in Natsu’s lap. He draped the blanket over both of them and set his book on the coffee table.

“We could watch that new movie!” Lucy answered Wendy as the girls ignored the boys’ antics. “The Polynesian one!” 

“Oh! _Moana_?” Wendy smiled happily. She had wanted to see _Moana_ for weeks, but never got around to it. 

“It does look good.” Erza considered. “What do you two think?” She turned to the boys, only to glare at them. The two males were engaged in a rather pathetic slapping fight, but froze and quailed under Erza’s glare.

“S-sounds good to me, Erza.” Gray forced out. “Whatever you guys want to watch is fine with me, so long as it isn’t a huge chick flick again.” He continued more calmly. Natsu, on the other hand, just squeaked out “A-aye!”

“Great!” Lucy cheered and hopped up to fiddle with the lacrima until it began to play the film.

 

* * *

 

“That was amazing!” Lucy gushed as the credits rolled.

“It was very sweet.” Erza agreed with a smile. She couldn’t deny the catchiness of the songs or the moving emotional moments of the film.

“I really liked the Grandmother,” Wendy put in with a soft smile. “She reminded me of Grandine.” Lucy hugged the little Dragonslayer and Erza patted her shoulder. 

Natsu laughed suddenly. “You know, Ice Princess? That Moana girl kind of reminds me of you!” He grinned at his ice mage who in turn looked utterly baffled. 

“How the hell does a girl from a tropical island remind you of me?” He stared at the Dragonslayer. “I could understand Elsa from _Frozen_ because hey—ice powers.” 

“And keeping everything bottled up until you explode.” Lucy interjected. Gray glared at her. Lucy shrugged. “What? It’s kind of true.”

Gray shook his head. “But, “ he continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “I don’t understand any likeness of me to Moana.”

“Well, you were really close to a person,” Natsu explained as he tapped the legs still resting in his lap, “and then they died.” He squeezed Gray’s knee in comfort when the ice mage’s expression fell. “But you didn’t let that stop you. You followed their advice and made them proud.” A faint blush crept up Gray’s face at Natsu’s words. “And you saved your family by doing what you felt you had to do.” Natsu finished.

Gray blinked slowly. “I’m impressed you gave it so much thought, Fireface.” He chuckled at Natsu’s offended scowl. “But,” now that blush darkened slightly, “I think you’re making me out to be something better than I am.”

“Oh I don’t think so.” Erza disagreed with a thoughtful frown. “I think Natsu is correct in his conclusions. You need to stop being so hard on yourself, Gray.” Gray shifted uncomfortably at this and spoke up again.

“Why do I have to be Moana?” he complained to hide his embarrassment. He nudged the Dragonslayer. “Why can’t you be Moana?” Natsu could smell his mate’s embarrassment despite his attempts to hide it, and squeezed Gray’s knee to show he knew. 

“Because I’m the Awesome Lava Monster! Duh!” Natsu said instead, as if it were obvious, and the others sighed. A sudden thought struck him. “Oh! And Wendy’s the Ocean, cause she’s so helpful and is good at pointing us in the right direction!” He grinned at the younger Dragonslayer, who blushed brightly. 

“Well, I don’t know about that,” she refuted bashfully. Lucy and Erza, however, protested her words.

“Natsu’s right, Wendy,” Lucy spoke kindly. “You should give yourself more credit. I, for one, think you are an incredibly helpful person. You always seem to know what to say.” The celestial mage smiled at the youngest Dragonslayer and Wendy returned it. Carla reached over and patted her human on the head with an encouraging smile.

“Indeed, Wendy,” Erza nodded, “your helpfulness knows no bounds. You see the best in people,” the requip mage added with a soft smile, “and try to get them to see what you see. Just like that Ocean.” 

Wendy didn’t think her cheeks could possibly get any redder. When she spoke her voice was a squeak so she cleared her throat and tried again. “Well, who do you think the other characters liken to?” 

“Oh, I know! Erza can be that Maui guy! Cause she kicks peoples’ asses!” Natsu laughed. Lucy coughed to cover up her smirk as Erza studied Natsu, trying to determine if that was an insult or a compliment.

“I think what Natsu’s trying to say is that Erza can be a bit...ah...intimidating on the outside,” Wendy piped up softly, “but once you get to know her, she is incredibly loyal and brave. She’s accomplished so much that most people see her as something like a god, I think.” Erza smiled at Wendy again, satisfied with the comparisons.

“Well, I think Makarov would make a good Chief.” She declared. “He is always looking out for us and wants to keep us safe. Even if he does not believe the paths some of us may follow will lead us to where we want to go, he trusts us to be able to find our way back.” Though there were some aspects of the Chief in _Moana_ that didn’t line up with Makarov’s personality—like the obsession that everyone remain on the island or the fear of what he doesn’t understand (i.e., the ocean)—they all agreed that the Chief’s actions were to keep his people and his family safe, much like Makarov is always doing. 

Gray broke the thoughtful silence of Erza’s declaration with a snort. “Gajeel should be that crab guy; ‘cause he’s obsessed with metals and they’re both assholes.” Natsu choked on his drink while the others snickered. 

“L-let’s not be too hard on Gajeel,” Wendy struggled to hide her grin, however, as Lucy added, “He means well, even if his approach could use quite a bit of work.” 

“Aye!” Happy agreed. “Gajeel’s always so grumpy. He’s not very good with people. That’s why he should eat more fish!” Carla immediately snapped that fish were not the solution to every problem as Natsu and Gray continued to laugh at Gajeel’s expense. Erza, meanwhile, was studying the boys curiously. 

“If Gray is Moana,” she began after a moment, “then the Grandmother would be closest to...Ur? And the ancestors are Gray’s family and friends?” Her voiced trailed off at the end, unsure if the subject of Ur and Gray’s people before Deliora would be allowed here. Gray’s mirth slowly subsided as he pondered Erza’s words.

Could the Grandmother be Ur? It was certainly possibly. Just like Grandma Tala did for Moana, Ur guided him to his, well, destiny. Was still guiding him even after she turned to ice so long ago. She showed him the way when he faced his demons again on Galuna Island—showed that they would never bring him down, that she wouldn’t let them. And Gray had loved Ur—loved her more than he was willing to admit during his time with her. After she died, Gray vowed to never forget her words, to make her proud.

He hoped he had made her proud. If Ur was proud of the man he had become, then maybe, just maybe, he could begin to forgive himself for killing her. 

Gray’s heart still ached at what he had done to his beloved master, and he didn’t want to think about that on top of the horrendous mission they had barely returned from. So his thoughts moved onto Erza’s other comparison.

The ancestors...his old friends and family? Maybe. He certainly continued to think about them—who he could remember at least. Perhaps his parents, his dad especially. Gray had always wanted to be like his dad. The more Gray thought about it, the more he could see his friends and family pointing him in the right direction, his parents in particular. Perhaps Erza’s words had some merit to them, after all. He hoped he made them proud, too.

“Hm,” he murmured finally, “maybe you’re right.” Erza gave a tentative smile at the ice mage’s quiet words, relieved to know that she hadn’t overstepped any bounds. Natsu gently squeezed his mate’s knee again to bring Gray back from his thoughts. 

“What about Lucy?” Happy piped up suddenly. Lucy, herself, blinked, realizing that she was never given a character. “And me and Carla?” 

“Happy can be the pig, cause he’s our best friend!” Natsu put in excitedly. “Carla can be the Lady Chief, cause she’s so bossy.” Happy opened his mouth to protest at being a _pig_ (he would most certainly be a _fish_ , thank you), but preened at the rest of Natsu’s words. 

Carla, on the other hand, glared at the fire mage. “Bossy?! Excuse me?! I’ll have you know that I’m _responsible_ not _bossy_! You think I’m bossy because you are so irresponsible yourself!” She hissed. Wendy immediately tried to soothe her ruffled fur. 

“And Lucy can be the chicken!” Natsu concluded. Lucy gaped at the fire mage in outrage. 

“ _What_! You compare me to the stupid chicken?” She shrieked. “ _Are you implying something, Natsu Dragneel?_ ” Her brown eyes flashed with irritation and a bit of hurt. “ _I am not a dumb chicken!_ ”

Gray spotted the thinly veiled hurt in Lucy’s eyes and smacked the fire Dragonslayer hard with the book retrieved from the coffee table. As Natsu was cradling his aching nose, cursing his mate under his breath, Gray turned to Lucy. “What this idiot dragon was _trying_ to say,” he threw a glare at the dragon in question, “is that you are someone to not be underestimated. People see you and don’t think you’ll be much of a threat, and you prove them dead wrong.” He smiled kindly at her. “You’re more than meets the eye, Lucy. You are resilient and resourceful and use all of your charms to fool people into overlooking you before you kick their ass. While that may not be much like the chicken itself, that’s how Natsu interpreted it for you, so don’t be too insulted by this nuisance.” 

Lucy’s cheeks pinked prettily at Gray’s words and she smiled warmly at him. Gray cleared his throat as his own cheeks pinked before he stood and stretched. 

“Well,” he sighed, “I think I am going to crash. You guys are more than welcome to bunk here if you don’t feel like going home.” He began to clean up the mess of the food, Natsu helping after a blast of snow to the face, and disappeared into the kitchen. The girls continued to discuss the previous conversation.

“That was really sweet of Gray,” Wendy smiled. “You’re definitely not stupid like that chicken, Lucy, but you certainly don’t give up on anything.” Lucy chuckled at that and glanced towards the kitchen.

“This was nice. We should do this more often. I really feel a lot better now than I did earlier.”

Erza hummed in agreement. “Yes. I believe this was just what we needed after this mission.” She frowned as she thought about the almost-disaster.

 

* * *

 

_“You think you can win?” The mad mage cackled loudly, clutching at his sides. “You really think you can win when I have a_ dragon _on my side?”_

_Erza grit her teeth. She struggled to her feet, noticing Wendy and Lucy do the same, Happy and Carla hovering in the air beside them. All looked worse for wear; cuts, scrapes, bruises, bleeding lacerations. Wendy’s arm hung loosely from a dislocated shoulder and Lucy was heavily favoring her right leg. Erza herself grasped her side to stem the blood flow of a deep slice._

_That last attack had been brutal. The requip mage felt sluggish by the amount of magic she had used in order to defend herself. One look at the others suggested they faired no better._

_“We’ll win,” Lucy vowed, eyes cold. “We’ll win and you will pay for what you’ve put our friends through.” Erza couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Lucy so cold. But Erza supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. She felt only rage towards this madman for hurting her family. For taking Gray and hurting him and using him against Natsu. For overcoming Natsu’s mind by underhanded tactics and painful force, for making him watch as Gray was being tortured._

_For making Natsu believe that Gray was dead._

_No. This man would receive no mercy for hurting Natsu and Gray. Her boys._

_A roar of rage shook the battlefield and cause another laughing fit for the mad mage. Burning heat and icy chill clashed, covering the land in fluctuating extremes. Fire and ice stepped to a deadly dance, bursts of magic revealing that carnage for the world to see. It drew the eyes of the Fairy Tail mages. A sickening awe forced them to watch their boys fight with such violence. The amber of Natsu’s eyes full of malicious madness. The midnight of Gray’s determined and worried._

_“Stop, Natsu!” The ice mage pleaded. “Come on, Flame Brain!” Gray shot a barrage of lances at the rampaging Dragonslayer. “Snap out of it! What is wrong with you—whoa!” He dodged a dragon’s roar by the skin of his teeth. “Ice Make: Floor!” Natsu slipped on the ice and Gray used the misstep to his advantage, skating in close to the Dragonslayer. “Natsu please look at me!” He begged. “It’s me—Gray!”_

_“Dead,” Natsu roared, wretched grief cracking his voice. “Gray is dead, Gray is_ gone _!” Fire flickered in his empty, raging eyes. “This world will_ burn _for taking my mate from me!” Flames licked his skin, increasing his body temperature to scalding levels. Gray could feel his own cool skin sizzling just from a close proximity. Any ice conjured up melted instantaneously and drew the attention of the out of control fire mage. Natsu’s arm whipped out and his burning fingers wrapped around Gray’s pale neck in a searing grip._

_“No, Natsu! I’m not dead!” Gray choked as the fingers tightened. “Use your damn senses, idiot Dragonslayer!” Ignoring how he literally felt like he was melting, Gray reached up a shaky hand and placed it on Natsu’s hot cheek. “It’s Gray, Natsu. I’m not dead, I swear I’m not.”_

_Natsu could hear the mumbling of someone speaking, but he tried his best to ignore it. He was only dimly aware of what was happening outside of his mindscape where he had retreated. He curled up in the little corner of his mind devoted to Gray; his rival, his best friend, his mate. He bathed himself in the memory of Gray’s winter pine scent and tried to forget his lifeless body in the puddle of his own blood._

_Gray was_ dead _. His mate was_ **dead** _. And Natsu was alone. He couldn’t handle it. Couldn’t handle a world without Gray. So he decided that there shouldn’t be one._

_That voice spoke up again. Will it_ shut up _? Can’t it tell that he’s trying to make everything disappear? Why was it telling him to use his senses? Why was it insisting that Gray was alive—_

_Wait. Natsu sniffed the air. It was faint, but he could smell it. Winter pine and fresh snow._ Gray _._

_Gray was here! Where was Gray? That voice spoke again, insisting that it was Gray, that Gray was still alive because he was right in front of him._

_But that meant..._

_That meant that Gray was out there with that rampaging inferno of grief and utter rage. That meant that Gray could be_ hurt _, which was unacceptable._

_“Gr...ay...?” Gray gasped, part in agony as his burning fingers scrabbled at the hand around his neck, and part in disbelief that Natsu had spoken. “Gra...y?”_

_“I’m here, Natsu.” Gray wheezed and Natsu blinked at him. “I’m still alive, Ash-for-Brains.” The rage slowly dispersed from Natsu’s eyes as he drunk in the sight and inhaled the scent of his mate. The flames across his body flickered out of existence and the hellish heat began to waver, much to Gray’s relief._

_“Gray,” Natsu whispered. He finally noticed how he was holding the ice mage and quickly let go, wrapping his arms tightly around Gray’s waist instead to keep him from dropping. Gray gasped for breath and coughed heavily._

_“Yeah, Natsu,” he panted, “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, Cinder Breath.” Natsu let out a keening noise and buried his face in Gray’s hair, breathing in the usual wintry smell mixed in with singed smoke. Gray hugged Natsu back just as tightly as the Dragonslayer held him as they sank to their knees. “It’s all right, Natsu. I’m safe. You’re safe. Everything’s going to be okay.”_

_“What! How!” The mad mage screamed as he watched his greatest asset return to his senses by that worthless ice mage he treasured. “How_ dare _you, you scum! How_ dare _you steal_ MY _dragon!” He made to attack Gray, but was stopped by a whip wrapping around his wrist. He turned to face three livid females and two hissing exceeds._

_“He was never yours.” Erza stated coldly, eyes full of loathing. “You will not hurt them again.”_

 

* * *

 

Erza wrenched herself out of that horrible memory when Lucy spoke again. “I thought it was cute when Natsu insisted that he was Te Fiti and Gray was Moana.”

“Aye! And Natsu was an awesome lava monster!” Happy chimed in. Erza found herself chuckling as a sudden thought struck her. The others looked at her in confusion.

“What’s so funny, Erza?” Wendy asked.

Erza could only smile. “Natsu and Gray fit their roles perfectly, wouldn’t you say?” At the blank looks, she went on. “Well, Gray was the one to return Natsu to his senses and stop his destruction." Her smiled widened and her eyes twinkled. “And Gray is the one who holds Natsu’s heart.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! If there were any mistakes please let me know. Drop me a comment and let me know what you thought about it if you've got the time. This is my first posting so I hope it's at least average. Anyway, see ya later!


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